ALFRED, Maine — York County Commissioners are allocating funds that are allowing York County Shelter Programs to keep operating its food pantry.
For the shelter, the funding is a favorable development amid the financial challenges that the organization is addressing by suspending key services.
On Friday, the organization announced, for example, that it is suspending operations of its adult shelter on Shaker Hill Road.
The organization also announced that its food services program, which includes the delivery of homemade meals to people each week, will suspend operations starting on May 12. This includes the organization’s bakery and services on its Shaker Hill campus, according to a press release.
In an email on Thursday, County Commissioner Justin Chenette said the commission is stabilizing funding for the pantry for the short term and is working to add the pantry to the budget and operations of the York County Government.
Specifically, the commissioners have allocated $25,000 in contingency funds to keep the pantry operating and have placed $100,000 into the upcoming county budget to ensure full operations and staffing there, according to Chenette.
Ultimately, these sums need to be approved by the county’s budget committee, Chenette added.
With the commissioners adopting operations of the pantry, a service that helps up to 6,000 county residents each month can continue, according to Kelli Deveaux, the secretary and spokesperson for the York County Shelter Programs board of directors.
“We are grateful that the provision of food will continue uninterrupted for those who find themselves in need of assistance, and for the partnership and commitment to caring for our neighbors that has been demonstrated by the York County Commissioners,” Deveaux said on Friday.
The pantry also provides pet food for 250 pets each week.
York County Shelter Programs faces layoffs, service suspensions
York County Shelter Programs announced on May 2 that it laid off 20 employees and likely needed to suspend some of the services it provides to members of the unhoused population in the county.
Formed in 1980, the nonprofit organization historically has served approximately 650 men, women, and children facing homelessness throughout the county each year, according to Deveaux. The organization also has helped thousands more who have dealt with food insecurity.
In a press release announcing the organization’s decision to suspend operations of its emergency shelter for adults, Deveaux said all 37 of the clients who had been staying there have a plan in place for housing. Deveaux credited staff members and such partners as MaineHousing and Seeds of Hope in Biddeford with making these plans possible.
While 11 clients were able to find housing through the organization’s affordable housing program, some of the plans of others “offer only temporary solutions, and clients have been provided with contact information for additional resources,” according to the press release.
The organization’s family shelter, located in Sanford, will continue to operate until alternative options for all 16 current residents are found, or until another organization can take over operations, Deveaux added.
York County Shelter Programs retains key services despite layoffs
York County Shelter Programs’ affordable housing services will continue, according to Deveaux. The organization owns and manages 24 separate properties with 117 apartment units throughout York County. MaineHousing is providing technical assistance for this to happen, according to Deveaux.
Layman Way Recovery Center, a 17-bed treatment facility, will continue operations until June 30.
“This has been a long-scheduled closing date in coordination with the building of a new recovery center that will be operated by the county,” according to the organization’s press release. “Layman Way continues to serve 9 clients but will not be accepting new clients.”
Books ReVisited, a used bookstore in Sanford whose proceeds benefit York County Shelter Programs, will remain open at this time, according to Deveaux.
York County Shelter Programs will retain 23 full- and part-time staff to maintain the services that remain, but roughly 30 per-diem, part-time and full-time staff will be laid off after May 9, according to Deveaux.
Deveaux said that the organization is grateful for the collaboration and support that has been offered. MaineHousing, the Office of the Governor, York County Community Action Corporation, Preble Street, Caring Unlimited, Seeds of Hope, Sanford Housing Authority, Sanford City Manager Steven Buck, elected officials, and members of the York County Task Force on Homelessness all have been among those who have provided counsel and assistance, she added.
“We take small comfort in knowing that through the tireless work of our staff, the generous philanthropic support of our communities, and the partnerships with our colleagues in the social services sector, YCSP made a positive difference in the lives of many during our 45-year history,” the organization’s board stated in its press release.
Why is York County Shelter Programs struggling financially?
In an interview earlier this week, Deveaux said York County Shelter Programs had tried for years to raise awareness about the lack of state funding for homeless shelters and services and how that shortage has impacted communities.
If York County Shelter Programs is to ever return to what it had been for more than four decades, the state’s funding mechanism would need to change, Deveaux added.
“Emergency shelters throughout the state receive just $7 per night per bed in state funding, while a recent cost study conducted by MaineHousing found that the cost of operating that shelter bed is $102 per night,” Deveaux explained. “Because of this enormous income gap, shelters face constant financial hurdles to remain open.”
For those who are unhoused, or are close to losing their homes, and are now dismayed that a resource such as York County Shelter Programs is no longer available, Deveaux advises contacting the town clerks or the General Assistance Offices in their hometowns or calling 2-1-1, the number for information and resources related to social services.
发表回复